Szkarłatny Deszcz
by WingsofRequiem
Summary: A dealer in death is betrayed. A web of fractures spread from his fall. A healer in health is ensnared. Trapped within the web as her life falls apart. Bound by fate, life and death must now fight against all odds, because only until death do they part.


**Prologue**

The wind was blowing with a force that was expected to be felt at the top of a 10 story apartment complex. A man stood at the edge of the flat roof, black coat billowing to his left from the wind, one foot propped up on the tiny half-a-foot tall railing that separated the roof from a fall that would be fatal to any human being. He peered over the edge with no fear however, arm pressed down onto the knee of the propped leg, staring down at the river so far below him. His hair, as black as the new moon night above him, danced wildly from the wind's battering, most of it safely pulled back into a braid, disappearing underneath the collar of his long coat. A cigarette hung at his lips, smoke barely having time to waft up from the lit end before being eradicated by the wind.

"**Tch."** He uttered, a look of boredom and annoyance on his pale face, mismatched eyes glaring down at the river.

There was a sound of the roof access door opening. And then, boots. Lots of boots. The man closed his eyes and uttered a long exhale, smoke billowing from his nostrils. A few more seconds passed as the sounds of booted footsteps echoed behind him, before they all stopped, the only sound once again the roar of the wind, not a word, breath or even a heartbeat breaking that aural monopoly.

The man simply reached up, pulled out the cigarette from his lips, and then let it drop, the wind carrying it away as it disappeared from sight. Straightening up, he turned around to come face to face with 6 figures, all of them dressed head to toe in black just as he was. One stood in front of the other 5, a small smile coming to his lips.

"**Still holding onto the habit of smoking, Kayn?"** The man said, his dark hair tied back into a ponytail, the tail blowing sideways in the wind as his violet eyes stared at Kayn with a glowing amusement.

"**Well, it can't kill me anymore. Still a bootlicker, Varus?"** Kayn said in a mocking voice, venom evident in his voice.

Varus simply smiled wider, a cold smile. His arms were at his side, casual yet tensed, the finger twitching slightly. All of the five held their arms like that. All of them, tensed in a coiled way reminiscent of a viper about to strike.

"**There's only one way this can go, Kayn."** Varus said, his smile disappearing. "**I really wish it hadn't come to this."**

"**It would've come to this regardless, Varus. My only regret is that you don't see it as well."** Kayn said, a small ounce of hurt flashing behind his mismatched blue and red eyes.

Varus said nothing, but it seemed to be some kind of silent message, as at once, all 5 behind him reached into their belts and drew out pistols. All silenced. All aimed at Kayn.

Kayn breathed out through his nose, shaking his head with disappointment. "**You're right… Only one way for this to end."**

There was a moment's pause. The span of a heartbeat, if there ever was one to beat on that rooftop.

And then Kayn's hands shot up, each holding a small SMG as he lunged to the right, firing. Varus jumped up, soaring high into the air in a graceful flip, higher than humanly possible, as the other 5 opened fire. Two went down, cursing and barking in pain as Kayn's bullets peppered into them, but the rest kept firing. Blood splattered as some of the hit Kayn despite his fast movement, one to his shoulder, one to his leg. Yet most missed as Kayn flanked them in blinding speeds, barely a blur, suddenly changing direction like a spring striking a wall.

He lunged forwards, now at the side of the line of 5, the men struggling to turn and spread out to shoot him. Kayn stuck the barrel of one of his guns into the mouth of the surprised man, his head going underneath the man's outstretched weapon arm, Kayn's other hand aiming at his fellows. Staccato shots ran out as Kayn used the man as a shield, shooting at the other 4. Bullets peppered into the back of the man Kayn was holding. Only a single bullet managed to hit Kayn, right in his outstretched hand, his gun falling as he cursed in pain. Yet, the rest of the 4 was already incapacitated or dead on the ground, gunned down without mercy. The man Kayn was holding onto was gurgling, unable to speak or scream with the barrel of Kayn's other gun still inside of his mouth. Kayn simply pulled the trigger, a burst fire making the back of that man's head explode before he fell down, Kayn straightening up. Looking down at the dead bodies.

Five bodies.

A shot rang out, a powerful report, and Kayn could only turned around to look with shock on his face before a bullet blasted through his right abdomen, going right through him without even losing speed. Kayn uttered a sound of pain, stumbling back from the force of the blow, his gun falling out of his hand. He doubled over, clutching his bleeding wound. It was too large, too deep, even as his body was struggling to heal it.

"**I'm sorry it had to end this way, Kayn."** Varus said, lowering the large rifle, the barrel still smoking. Kayn simply looked up at Varus, rage and pain written across his face in his bared, bloodied teeth. He stumbled back another step, precariously close to the edge.

"**We're being used, Varus."** Kayn managed to say, his hands clutching the bleeding wound in his gut. Varus simply walked over to Kayn, stopping right in front of the man with sympathy written on his face. Varus hesitated, then raised a hand and put it on Kayn's shoulder, in an almost brotherly gesture. Kayn's eyes widened infinitesimally.

"**I know."** Varus said, as he shoved Kayn off the edge. Kayn did not utter a single sound as his feet left the ground, his body rotating backwards as he fell out into the abyss. He only stared up at Varus in shock and sorrow at the betrayal. Holding his gaze, as he fell… fell… fell…

There was an explosive sound of a body hitting water, the impact like concrete from that height, before there was nothing but blackness.

* * *

"**Heading home then, Luxanna?"** The brown haired man said as he looked up from his papers at the small blonde signing her out-time on the sheet in front of him. She looked up at him with big blue eyes and gave him a smile.

"**Got myself an important appointment to go to, Taric."** Lux said with a bright smile. Taric raised an eyebrow, an easy smile on his face as he said, "Oh? And might I inquire about who this appointment is with?"

Lux finished signing her name on the checkout sheet and put down the pen, giving Taric a wink. "**It's my good old friend, the bed."**

Taric laughed as Lux turned around and began to walk towards the exit. "**Take an umbrella, Luxanna, it's starting to rain."** Taric called over to her as Lux waved over her shoulder at him.

"**Sure, thanks Taric! Call me if anything comes up."**

"**Don't be silly, Luxanna! Enjoy some off-time. Leave the graveyard shift to us."** Taric called out as Lux rolled her eyes, taking and umbrella from the communal stock. She stepped out, whipping the umbrella open as she peered out into the parking lot. It had already began to rain, a light drizzle, but with the force of the winds, it was evident that the rain was going to pick up.

It was an absolutely dark night. Not only had it been a new moon tonight, but now it was raining, about to turn into a storm. Lux hurried over to her car, a small blue hatchback, trying not to get wet from the slanted, wind-driven rain.

Within a minute she was safely in her car, pulling out of the parking lot of the hospital. 30 minutes later, she was cruising along the outlying road that took her towards the suburbs where she lived. She was still in her light blue nurse scrubs, and she made a mental note to switch out of that to something comfy the moment she got home and took a shower. Maybe her favourite pair of fleece pajamas? Lux grinned to herself at the thought o-

A shadow flashed out in front of her car, the same moment thunder roared across the sky and Lux screamed, swerving her car reflexively. The car spun, and Lux struggled to bring it back under control, spinning around in a circle two times in the rain slicked roads before the back wheels came off the road into the gravelly sediments. That provided more grip and stopped her spin.

Lux stayed inside of her car, her hands shaking despite the white knuckled grip on her steering wheel, her breathing hard as she stared down at nothing at all, the shock of almost crashing barreling through her. She needed to pay more attention to the road and not let her mind wander… It was so lucky she swerved onto the right side of the road rather than the left side, which she was now facing. Because if she had swerved that way, she would've fallen into the river and probably drowned in her car. She raised her eyes to look at the river through the rain.

There was a black lump on the river back, half in half out of the water.

Lux's heart skipped a beat. She had narrowly escaped crashing into the river… Was it possible…?

She flipped her headlights to high-beams, lighting up the dark lump.

It was a body.

Lux only blinked in shock before her training as nurse kicked in. She quickly got out of her car, ignoring the heavy rain, running across the road to the other side. It as a man, deathly pale, black hair plastered across his wet face, eyes closed. She quickly reached down and dragged him by his shoulders out of the water, before crouching down to check his pulse.

No pulse. Her bones chilled… And yet…

He was breathing. Extremely slowly, but he was. His skin was ice cold, and hers were cooling as well in the rain, so it was entirely possible he had a pulse but it was very weak and unable to be felt in this condition. He needed help, ASAP.

She dragged him by his shoulders to her car, sounds of struggle and effort escaping her. He was heavy. And tall. Did she mention he was heavy?

But finally, she got him to her car, opening the door into the backseats, the ding-ding-ding of her car's open-door signal being the only sound over the rain as she pulled and pushed him into her back seat. Closing the door, she quickly got back into the driver's seat. She was closer to her house than the hospital, and she had medical supplies at her house… This man needed help ASAP, so she couldn't waste time with the longer drive back to the hospital.

So she began to drive back to her home…

* * *

It was around the time she pulled into her driveway and turned to check on him that she realized he wasn't just wet with the water from the river and rain.

Blood coated her entire back seat area, leaking from several wounds on the man.

Lux's body moved in autopilot even as her mind panicked, and within a minute she had dragged him inside her house. She swiped her hand over her table, chucking the tablecloth and salt/pepper shakers off of it without a second thought, before putting the man onto her table on his back (with a lot of effort).

She ran to her cupboards, searching and gathering supplies, before returning to the table. She took a second to tie her blonde hair back into a ponytail before grabbing her scissors. Another moment to take stock of where his injuries were, underneath the bright lights above her dining table. It was hard to tell with his black clothing, but she picked out the spots. 2 spots on his right shoulder, one on his left thigh, and the largest one it seemed on his left abdominal area. With expert motions, she cut his shirt down the middle, parting it so she didn't have to struggle with taking that and his heavy coat off. She simply pulled it apart, shock hitting her like a truck.

Bullet wounds. And the one on his gut…

She wasn't sure how he was still breathing. Some of them probably still had the bullets in there. Gritting herself, Lux entered that zone in her mind that she had been trained into when she assisted with surgeries, and let her body take over.

It took an hour or more.

Three bullets, pulled out of his wounds. The largest one was a clean puncture through him, so no bullet to pull out. And then, the stitching. She didn't know if stitching that large wound on his gut would save him, but it didn't seem to be bleeding as badly as it should've been. So she prayed and hoped that stitching it would save him.

Finally, she set her tools down, her hands stained in blood. There had been no time to look for gloves… She looked up at the sleeping man, blinking wearily. He was still breathing… And his breathing seemed a bit more stable. She still needed to observe him, though. She sat down on her chair next to the table and put her head down onto her arms. Yeah, she needed to keep an eye on him… But she was so utterly exhausted. He seemed stable, miraculously so… So she could just rest… her eyes for a moment… Just for a moment.

Sleep dragged her under with a vacuum pull, reminiscent of a dark, cold river pulling her down into its freezing depths of oblivion.

* * *

.

* * *

**A/N**

_**Hello everyone. I guess you could say I've returned. It's been a long year, and I'll leave it at that.**_

_**This story is something very different from what I normally write. Rather than staying in-universe for most of my stories, this one is a straight up AU, in modern times. So I hope that does not put you off and you will continue to read this story as it goes on. Those of you who have followed me throughout the years, I thank you for your continued support and hope you are around to read this one and enjoy this story as well.**_

_**I would also like to say that I am now taking donations to support my higher education and dreams and life. I want to be able to make writing something I can live with, and I hope to one day publish an entire novel. While it is entirely optional, if you would like to donate, I would be very grateful for it. PM me if you would like to for details.**_

_**Aside from all of that, I hope you all enjoy this story as it progresses. I can promise you it's definitely going to be something special.**_

_**Yours truly,**_  
_**~ Wings**_


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